In Ireland it is estimated that up to 200,000 people involved in rental or sale transactions  will need Building Energy Rating (BER) certificates each year.
A BER (Building Energy Rating) is the standard calculation of the energy performance of a building, produced by a qualified assessor.  The BER certificate is an energy label, similar to the ones used on  electrical appliances. This building energy label will rate the energy efficiency of each house.

Other sizes:M | L

Energy Rating of Residential BuildingsPrice: £49.50 GBP Lowest used price: £64.78 GBP

From the 1st January 2007 new dwellings applying for planning permission had to apply to have a provisional Building Energy Rating certificate.
From the 1st of July next year, this will also apply to non-domestic buildings and from 1st January 2009 this will apply to all existing buildings, domestic or non-domestic.A person wishing to sell or let a house will be required to get a BER carried out by a registered BER assessor and to provide prospective buyers or tenants with this information.
Energy Rating Assessor Procedure takes into account different factors, like exposure, floor area, materials, insulation, efficiency of heating control and design to calculate an overall energy value.

BER allows house hunters and tenants to compare the energy performance of two different houses. If a house has C2 energy rating another one has B2, the latter is a more efficient house and this will be  reflected in  the amount of money spent on heating the property.

SEI has currently a programme in place to train assessors in order to meet the increasing demand.  There are currently almost 200 assessors registered in the SEI official registry.
More are being trained – and there are several companies offering BER assessor training courses. Maybe this is a good career move for a builder ?

PTSB have launched a Green Mortgage – basically any PTSB Irish mortgage applicant can ask for the Green Mortgage – and get  the following

1. 10% off a Botanic Greenhouse at www.botanicgreenhouses.ie

2. €1,000 discount off a Shomera at www.Shomera.ie

3. 15% off a new bicycle at www.cycleways.com

4. Free electricity meter (worth €42) when you spend €150 at www.ecoshop.ie

5. 10% off all solar powered needs at www.solartechnology.ie

6. 10% discount and free delivery of all water collectors at www.ecoshop.ie

7. A tree planted in the mortgage customer’s name by the Tree Council of Ireland.

8. A chance to win one of 50 home energy surveys from National Energy Assessors .

Once customers have completed the tie breaker question on the Green Mortgage Form they will be in with a chance to win an Energy Assessment.

National Energy Assessors will conduct an assessment of the winning customers’ homes and advise them of any energy saving methods they could adopt into their home.

With the introduction of the €4,200 ‘Greener Home Scheme’ grant last year, wood pellet boilers and stoves are now a popular choice for domestic heating .
With oil and gas prices probably rising in the future , it will be  significantly cheaper to run a heating system on wood pellets.
Wood pellet systems are also more  environmentally friendly because they use a renewable source of fuel.  Supply of pellets may be a problem – but hopefully suppliers will move in to fill ang gaps.At first glance, wood pellet  boilers appear to be expensive to install in comparison to conventional systems, but  this should be  outweighed by the running cost savings and environmental benefits over the long term.There are many types of  wood pellet heating systems  on the market with options available for automatic loading ,  self-regulated lighting, cleaning and ash removal.
The cost of storing pellets and feeding them to your boiler at the right times, is something that needs to be considered.  Many boilers have an integrated ‘day hopper’ that usually holds about 60 kg of pellets which will probably keep the boiler running for just a few days during the winter months. If you do not want to worry about remembering to refill the hopper manually every few days you will need a much bigger store that will feed into the day hopper as necessary, and of course if you can buy them in bulk and store them, the pellets will be significantly cheaper.

The new regulations that came into force from 1 January 2007 mean tha all newly constructed dwelling for which planning permission was applied for on or after January 1st, 2007 – must have an Energy Rating cert.

It is unlikely that properties that only had planning applications in January would be ready to be sold yet – but if you are buying  “off plan” -  a provisional BER certificate must be produced by the builder or .
When the new dwelling is completed, a full BER certificate must be supplied to the buyer, based on the plans of the dwelling as constructed (to take account of any design changes during construction. A Provisional BER certificate lapses on completion of the dwelling or after 24 months, whichever is the sooner.

If you hire a builder to build a house on your own site – then it is your job to organise the  BER certificate  prior to taking up occupation of the dwelling.

Who will check up on these BER certificates ?

If you fail to get  a BER cert -  you will be liable, on conviction in the District Court, to a maximum fine of €5,000.
Failure to secure a BER certificate at the proper time could hinder or delay the legal completion of a sale or letting or a future disposal of the relevant dwelling